Loh Kean Yew falls to Alex Lanier, misses out on Singapore Badminton Open title
Loh was the first Singaporean to make the men's singles final at the tournament since Ronald Susilo in 2002.
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SINGAPORE: The long wait for a Singaporean to win the Singapore Badminton Open men's singles title will go on after Loh Kean Yew lost to France’s Alex Lanier in the final on Sunday (May 31).
At the Singapore Indoor Stadium, world-ranked 9 Lanier beat Loh 17-21, 21-15, 21-14 in 74 minutes. This is the 21-year-old's third victory in four appearances against Loh, who is ranked 14th in the world.
The last Singaporean man to win the home tournament was Wee Choon Seng in 1962, while Ronald Susilo fell at the final hurdle in 2002. The women’s doubles pair of Shinta Mulia Sari and Yao Lei won the tournament in 2010.
This is Loh’s first time qualifying for the final at his home tournament. Prior to this edition, his best finish was a semi-final appearance in 2022, where he lost to Indonesia’s Anthony Ginting.
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"This week has been physically strenuous on myself, my body," the former world champion told reporters after the match. "I went in just trying to push my body to the limit, and I did push myself to the limit."
Despite the fatigue of playing a total of 242 minutes before Sunday's final, Loh looked to be well up for it. He roared back after an early 1-6 deficit to the delight of the crowd.
Down again in the second, Loh mounted another comeback to take him within one point of Lanier at 14-13. But the talented Frenchman held firm to level things up.
Ultimately, Lanier's stamina and consistency shone through in the third as he saw out the match for his second Super 750 title.
"I knew that I needed to fight crazy hard, I needed determination and I think I lost a little bit of myself in the second set," said Lanier post-match.
"At that moment I just thought I cannot let him come back so easily. And I went 100 per cent, and even more, with determination, resilience. I went point after point, and I think that was definitely the key."
Loh had to dig deep to book his final spot this year.
He eked out wins over India’s Srikanth Kidambi and then H S Prannoy in the round-of-16, before beating Chi Yu-jen. All three matches went to a decider.
He then qualified for Sunday’s final by outlasting Japan’s Koki Watanabe 21-15, 15-21, 21-9 on Saturday.
"Every year a lot of the Singapore crowd come to watch Singapore players play. Sometimes I feel very sayang (regretful) that I lose before (they can come and watch)," said Loh.
"This year I came through all the way, till the last day. I'm glad that I did that, even though I lost."
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